Carjacking Suspects Take Victim For Ride

November 14, 1993|By BRYAN SMITH Daily Press

NEWPORT NEWS — A Newport News man told police that two men forced him into his car at gunpoint Friday night, robbed him, then drove him around for several hours before dropping him off at a 7-Eleven in Denbigh.

Donald D. Cornelious, 21, of the 100 block of Stillwell Street, said he was abducted from the RaceTrac filling station on Jefferson Avenue about 11:30 p.m. after buying a pack of cigarettes.

FOR THE RECORD - Published correction ran Wednesday, November 17, 1993.An article on the front of Sunday's Local section incorrectly stated that a carjacking was reported to have occurred at the RaceTrac filling station on Jefferson Avenue in Newport News. The incident occurred at the RaceTrac station on Warwick Boulevard.

The car was still missing and the two abductors still at large late Saturday, police said. The car, a gray 1986 Pontiac Grand Am with a black protective covering across the grill, has Virginia tags ZYH 6938.

Newport News police officer Marc Fogleman said Cornelious could not give a full description of the men, but he did say they were in their 30s.

Cornelious told police two men he didn't know approached him, produced handguns and forced him into the right front passenger seat of his car. He said one of the men drove while the other sat in the center of the back seat, said Fogleman.

Cornelious told the men, ``Let me go, you can have my car,'' according to police. The man in the back seat then told Cornelious to ``Shut up'' and struck him in the head with a gun, knocking him out, Fogleman said.

Cornelious, who was not seriously injured, told police that he believes he was taken through Williamsburg or Lightfoot before being dropped at a 7-Eleven in Denbigh at about 7:30 a.m. Saturday. He said the men robbed him of his wallet, a Redskin cap and a pack of cigarettes.